The NHS trust responsible for Stoke Mandeville Hospital is under mounting
pressure to commission an independent inquiry into how much was known by
staff about Sir Jimmy Savile’s alleged abuse of child patients there.

Savile wearing a Stoke Mandeville Hospital t-shirt after running a marathon in aid of the hospital in 1981Photo: PA

A number of former patients have come forward claiming they were sexually abused by Savile, who had an office and a bedroom on the premises.

on Thursday a whistleblower told The Daily Telegraph that a senior manager at the trust had openly complained about Savile “touching up” nurses but said it was “tolerated” because of his fund-raising. Police have contacted the hospital in Buckinghamshire over allegations made by several women and at least one man that Savile molested them while they were patients there.

The Conservative MP Rob Wilson, who has led the calls for public bodies, including the BBC, to come clean over who knew what about Savile’s predatory activities, has written to bosses at the hospital demanding an investigation.

He said: “The scale of the allegations against Sir Jimmy Savile is quite staggering.

“I do not think what is alleged to have happened at Stoke Mandeville Hospital is acceptable in a decent society.

“I have written to the chief executive of Buckinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust today to request a full inquiry into what happened, what was known at the time, what records were kept and what is known now.

“If it is true, as alleged by ex-staff, that they were warned about Savile by hospital managers, they are complicit in the most disturbing of crimes.

“Some significant questions need to be answered. Such as why did it allow Jimmy Savile just to roam the hospital at will? Was it just because he raised money?

“Were there concerns because the charity tap was about to turn off?

“These are significant questions that need to be answered because the public needs reassuring.

“For the sake of the hospital’s reputation, I urge the trust not to drag its feet and act quickly. We now need openness and transparency, not the establishment closing ranks.”

A former worker at the trust said a manager told him a decade ago that Savile was notorious for targeting nurses.

The source said: “I mentioned something about Savile and the manager said, 'Don’t talk to me about him. He’s an absolute nightmare.’

“She said there had been allegations going back years that 'he touches people, he touches up the nurses’ but there was no CCTV to prove it.

“Because of his fame and fund-raising he was absolutely revered. The manager said the nurses were just told to steer clear of him.

“It was tolerated and let go because of his fund-raising, so for Stoke Mandeville to say this is the first time they have heard anything about this is just wrong.”

The trust said it had been contacted by the Metropolitan Police this week and is supporting the Yard with its inquiries. But it said it was inappropriate to conduct its own inquiry while the police investigation was being carried out.

A spokesman said: “If their findings suggest that we do need to take further action then we will do so.

“We have advised our staff that if they have any concerns or wish to raise anything relating to the allegations then they should contact their local police force.”

Mr Wilson said hiding behind the police investigation was not good enough.

He said: “Criminality is just one part of what’s going on.

“What about the culture within Stoke Mandeville Hospital? How could the hospital allow Jimmy Savile to get up to these things that he got up to?

“If Stoke Mandeville orders a swift inquiry it makes the job of apologising much easier.”